Things

Junior had an appointment today for his 18 month old well baby and I absolutely loved his doctor. There's really only one other doctor there that really listens, so to have two to choose from now is great! My little boy is doing great besides the fluid in one ear and the hand, foot and mouth disease that he got again. Poor guy. It explains why he has been cranky and not wanting to eat as much though. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and I am not putting him in daycare--especially after my run in with one of their front desk clerks this morning. I later called to complain to the director and she told me she was aware that there was a problem and that they were going to a customer service class next week. They needed it about 6 months ago!

Abs was doing really well in school, but apparently the honeymoon is over and she is back to her old ways of not being able to sit still. She retains everything that she hears though, but I am sure she is quite the distraction. Imagine that. Just think if she didn't have to wear a uniform, her clothing choices alone would be a distraction. Luckily her teacher loves her. They have a reward system using tickets and so far Abs is negative. She hasn't actually ever been on the positive side of the tickets. Like my mom said, if she did have tickets she would probably hand them out to everyone and still be happy.

Em is really practicing being a pre-teen or a tween or whatever they call them now. She can be so sweet and loving too. The calm before the storm? I'm sure she will be a sweet and loving teenager like I was. Practically perfect in every way.

Gunner is still in the field. I thought for sure they would have another shower run by now. I really could have used a short break today, but it's all good. Tomorrow I will hit the gym for a run and that always puts things in perspective and gives me time to think.

I was so proud of myself for making all of those appointments a few days ago. All the ones for me I made for Monday so I could get them out of the way. That day when the girls got home from school I got notice that they didn't have school on Monday. Today I called and had all my appointments switched over to them and I now need to reschedule all of mine. They need haircuts too. Does it ever slow down?

I start class on Saturday. Wish me luck, I will need it.

Wordless Wednesday

Taken in St. Louis. My daughter Abs.....and here is the rest of the story.....

Need some ink

Deployment Journal for Kids.

The Year of Me

I am focusing on myself this year. I'm going back to school. I'll lose the weight. I'll get organized (quit snickering guys, this time I mean it!).

I started with making all the appointments that I need to have done, like the dentist (trying a new one since I absolutely love to go to the dentist and still haven't found one that I love here locally). Of course then I had to make the girls appointments.

I know I need to get new glasses, so I made the appointment. Well the girls need to go to, and that means Abs needs a referral, so I had to make an appointment for that too. Which reminded me that she needed to see the urologist, so I made that appointment around her PT appts.

Needing a break from all the appointments I made one more for Junior for a day at the hourly daycare that he loves on post. He needs his shots, which required an appointment for him.

Maybe this will be the year of me....and Em....and Abs....and Junior.....and Gunner. Definitely in 17 years when Junior heads off to college I will focus on me. Just me. I'm in no rush though.

Gunner's Law

Who else can wash and dry their clothes with a pen in the pocket, have the ENTIRE dryer covered in ink and their clothes come out without a spot?

Oh yeah, and then remind me when I call him in the field to ask him if he made any other messes besides the dishes, the bathroom and the living room. Good thing I love this guy...probably a good thing he was only home 7 hours today or no telling if the house would be standing.

Field Time

In Germany, Gunner would go to the field all the time. At Fort Lewis, he went about twice a year and it was for about 2-3 weeks, sometimes longer. At Hood, he has been deployed most of the time. He did leave today to go out to the field so they can play war. He wanted to be a bad guy so he didn't have to shave--he hates to shave. Shoot, he only has to shave his face, not his legs or his armpits. He's getting off easy without having to get a bikini wax or his eyebrows done.

But it's cold. Having him go to the field is just another reminder of what is around the corner for us. Em told me the other day that when he goes to Iraq she will miss him, but she is getting used to him being gone. How sad is that. She will be getting ready to go into Junior High when he returns and she is only in 4th grade now.

When he deploys, I do tell him about all the milestones they reach, funny stories about the kids and he talks to them when he is able to call. There are still so many things that he misses out on. When he came home last time, he carried Junior in and the girls were right by his side. It brought tears to my eyes when he asked the girls if he could sit up....he didn't know his own son. He told me once while he was gone that he loved him even though he didn't know him. How heartbreaking is that? Gunner has more than made up for the missed time when he returns, but the thought of having him miss out again...sigh....no words to describe it.

Priceless...

Today I worked and left Gunner in charge of all three kiddos. I came home and Junior was still in his pajamas, Abs was wearing black and white checked pants with an orange shirt and Em, ever the fashion diva, was color coordinated down to the hoodie that she has to be wearing at all times (Thanks Uncle David!). He got some things accomplished, but his mom also had to make two trips over to help him out. The guy cracks me up--he can go to war, but three little kids are overwhelming!

After two weeks off of work I had a lot to catch up on. I finally got it all done and then my mom and I met my sister and her boys for mexican food at our favorite restaurant. Enchilada Wednesday! After missing a week of our mexican fix, the food was exceptionally good today.

Then we ran by a few stores to pick up a few things that we needed. My mom needed medicine from walmart and ummmmm.......I think that was it. After 6 hours (and three stores) we ended up with this (minus the bag in my hand and the two bags in the backseat). The time we spent together collecting crap we didn't need was priceless!

At least we didn't stock up on wrapping paper this year! I better get busy using all these things I bought though...

Wordless Wednesday

Our Christmas card this year.

Shoes

I usually buy the girls shoes online at shoebuy.com. I will go to the store to get their feet sized and then use ebates and deals to get the shoes down to a reasonable cost....until Em's feet grew. My daughter is only 10, but can no longer wear a children's size as she needs a 7.5. I don't think my feet were that big till college!!!!

The girls were nestled into bed...not sleeping....and I started to peruse the website looking for the perfect shoes. Since they were awake I thought I would allow them to choose the color of the shoes. Big mistake. Abs insisted that they have no pink on them at all. Try finding a size 1.5 girl shoe that has no pink and is not entirely white. It can't be too much blue or it is a "boy's shoe". Then she decided she wanted red, white and blue. I had to pull her out of bed so that we could look at several styles till we found one that we both agreed on--purple and white.

Then Em needed to have her input as well, so she came running out of bed for her turn. She was insistent that she wanted gold shoes. Gold???? Is her middle name Michael Johnson? Then there was the added problem that I was not going to pay a hundred dollars for a pair of tennis shoes for a 10 year old. I told her gold shoes were out since they would clash with her school uniform and no shoes over $75 (which is still absolutely ridiculous if you ask me, but I still hear my dad's voice telling me that you don't skimp on shoes!). We finally found something that we both agreed on and was under budget.

Whew...thank goodness for the internet so that we didn't have to go through all of this in the stores and could take care of it at home and set the search parameters! I wonder how long I can keep on doing this!

Happy New Year!

I cooked ham, black eyed peas and collards today. My sister brought her baked mac & cheese, my mom brought cornbread and the inlaws showed up with wine, german potato salad and german cookies. I'm bound to have good luck this year!

We still had Christmas presents to open, so we got that out of the way before we celebrated the new year. It doesn't take much to make my kids happy!

If you checkout my mom's blog you will see a pic of Gunner's brother and niece who just returned home from Iraq. Very touching photos.

After two weeks off I am back to work tomorrow. My boss is such a slaver driver! (See you tomorrow mom! tap tap tap)

We had a new year's eve dinner last night with the inlaws and feasted on german food.

School starts in 13 days, so I guess I better get busy and start reading all the stuff that I need to get done. I wanted to put Junior in daycare on Thursday but because he turned 18 months on the 26th of December and I haven't gotten him his shots, they won't take him. They didn't even have any appointments till the 10th of January. I have a meeting on Monday, so my MIL is coming to save the day. Since Gunner will be in the field soon, my mom and MIL have to help with the babysitting of all these children on the nights/Saturdays that I have school. I do realize how fortunate I am to have the help and assistance of both of them. Thank goodness this session is just 6 weeks or so.

Gunner got me an ipod for our anniversary and I have been downloading podcasts like crazy so I can listen to them when I hit the gym. Thursday I will start going again....my mom and I had good intentions over Christmas at the hotel gym, but instead we dragged our workout gear up there and it took up space in the luggage for nothing. Next time for sure!!!

I've already started shopping for Christmas next year.

Abs has a birthday in March and I think I have most of what I want to give her ready. I am searching for a dinosaur alarm clock that roars though, that is shaped like a dinosaur. I am starting to think that they don't make them. I thought I saw one before.....

May your 2008 be bright, happy, hopeful and prosperous in every way imagineable. Remember the Soldiers/Airmen/Marines/Sailors deployed throughout the world at the time. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

The trip home

We finally made it home. We left Joplin after breakfast and hit the turnpike. We stopped and got gas, and then about every 45-60 minutes after that we had to stop for Em to go to the bathroom. I told my mom that she must be drinking in the car ( I rode with my mom on the way back)--which we don't allow. I checked later and found an empty sprite bottle. I asked Gunner if he knew that she had one and he said yes, but she was not drinking it in the car. It was empty.

One of the MANY bathroom stops that we made was at a McDonald's where we all tossed back a cheeseburger and were back on the road. Junior slept through it poor kid.

In Oklahoma we stopped at a gas station that had a casino attached to it. We pottied and then since I didn't have my purse, I asked my husband for some money to try my luck. So while my husband stood outside the gas station feeding the children chocolate chip cookies my mom and I ducked in the casino. I tripled my money! My mom lost. I walked out and my husband asked me if I lost it all and I handed him back $6. Yeah, we aren't big gamblers, I started with $2.

We finally hit Texas and got within 30 minutes of home, so we pulled over so Em could potty....again....and Abs and I switched back to our car so my mom could head on home in peace and quiet. (Miss us yet mom?) Junior had pooped and spilled water all over himself when he opened his sippy cup, so I took him inside to change him. I always change Junior in the car or before I leave home or in the stroller. I'm not a big fan of public bathrooms or changing tables, especially in gas stations, but he was a mess and the car was packed. I put him on the changing table and he freaked out! I quickly changed his diaper and couldn't even attempt to change his clothes, so I took him outside to change him standing up. It was so strange for him to throw such a fit like that, that I mentioned it to Gunner. He told me that Junior doesn't like changing tables and he always does that. I laughed and laughed--not that he was scared, but that I had not had to change him while out in public the entire trip till the end, so I didn't even know this.

Okay Gunner, I think you have paid your dues, you win "Father of the Year" but I still hold the longest running title to "Employee of the Month!".

Pics from Precious Moments Chapel

Headed Home

We are finally on our way back home to Texas. We were supposed to leave bright and early this morning, but we didn't get out of St. Louis till 11 pm. We stopped off to pick up some stuff that we had left at my sister's house, then got gas, then went back to my sister's to drop off something else and pickup Junior's milk, then we started to leave, but Abs and I had to go potty, so back inside we went. Finally we said our goodbyes and hit the road.

We wanted to eat at Lambert's for lupper, but we got there and the wait was an hour and a half! we thought about it, used the Hen room, and headed out to the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, MO. When my little sister got married my husband and I traveled back by car from IL with Em who was two years old at the time. We were driving and stumbled across the Precious Moments Chapel, and stopped by to visit right before it closed. It was really neat and this was the first time I had been back in 8 years. The girls were amazed by all of the pictures and the stained glass ones that depicted different Bible verses.

After we left there and had dinner--the Sirloin Stockade, with the rest of Carthage! We are bunked for the night at a three star hotel. It was only $10 more a night than the dive we stayed in on the way up! We took the kids swimming and Junior was trying to fall asleep while we were still in the pool. Even little Abs who never goes to sleep before 10 or 11 was fast asleep by 9. Tomorrow we are headed home to Texas, with a stop or two along the way......

I'll share pics in another post since it's always a hassle on Gunner's laptop!

Science Center

Random Pics

Steak N' Shake Pics

Carriage Ride Pictures

Finishing Up

We leave tomorrow to head back to Texas. Of course my horrible cold is on the home stretch and I should be well by the time we get back there. Oh well, I have managed to cough and hack and blow my nose through St Louis and IL. On Sunday we went over to my friend Marcie's house--her house is absolutely beautiful and I am hiring her to decorate my house once I finally get one. We loved the area and it was so good to see her and her family. Her kids are half grown! We hung out there and then ran by Scott AFB to check out the px and get a few things that we needed. I was walking into the px and my purse broke, so a perfect excuse to go purse shopping there. My children think I put too much stuff in there, but with the essentials and binkies and snacks and bottles, I need all that space!

Monday we went swimming, checked out my sister's house which is in North St Louis and in an area that they are totally rehabbing. When it is all said and done, it's going to be a great place to visit! Once my brother and sister-in-law arrived we hit the Science Center. Christmas Day we cooked, ate, napped and finally opened presents.

There was the turtle playground one day.

We did some shopping yesterday and of course hit Steak N' Shake. Last night we went to Tillis Park to take a carriage ride through hundreds of lights. It was so cold out there, but we ended the event with hot chocolate, stollen and some kuchen.

Today it's raining so the zoo is out. My sister and her crew are due over to the hotel so we can decide what our plan of action is. So much to do, so little time.

Merry Christmas

We got a few quick pictures of Junior in his Christmas outfit before we went to breakfast. He spilled juice down the front, which wasn't too bad, but then he pulled Gunner's cold coffee down and it spilled all over. Tried to wash it out and dry it with a hairdryer so that he could wear it since there is only one day he could, to no avail. Oh well, he looked cute in it the 45 minutes that it took him to get it dirty!